AUSTRALIA—Note to gay teens and parents of gay teens: Before going to the drugstore to get a prescription from your doctor filled, find out first if the physician is a religious lunatic. If he is, the prescription might just be for a chemical castration drug and the doctor may be angling for a "gay cure."
Though hard to imagine, that's exactly what happened to an Australian teen in 2008 after he was referred to a Sydney doctor who belonged to the same conservative religious group, the Exclusive Brethren Christian sect. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, "Mark Christopher James Craddock, 75, wrote the 18-year-old patient a script for the anti-androgen therapy cyproterone acetate (Cyprostat) during a 10-minute consultation in his home in February 2008."
The doctor also failed to "obtain a medical history, conduct a physical examination, take an adequate sexual history or arrange a follow-up appointment." Oops.
The kid wrote to Australia's Health Care Complaints Commission, explaining that he was sent to Craddock by a church official after he came out as gay. He said the church leader told him, "There's medication you can go on." No shit, Sherlock.
It took four years, but the doctor has finally had his medical license revoked. Now people just need to be vigilant, because according to the Huffington Post, globally there are 40,000 members of this particular sect, which in addition to promoting dangerous "cures" for being gay, prohibits offspring from attending college, and bans the use of TVs, radios, PCs and mobile phones. Though just how Craddock pulled off becoming a doctor without going to college is unclear.
